Firewood is sold by volume, and the names are loose: a cord has a legal size, but a face cord or rick depends on how long the pieces are cut. Measuring the stack is the only way to know what you got.
How to use this calculator
- Measure the stack's length and height, and its depth, which is the length of the pieces if it is one row deep.
- Pick the wood to see the heat it holds.
- Compare the cords with what you paid for.
Worked examples
A full cord
Stack: 8 × 4 ft · Stack depth: 48 in · Wood: Red oak
- Cords
- 1.00 cord
- Stack volume
- 128 cu ft
- Face cords (one row deep)
- 1.00 face cords
- Solid wood, about
- 85 cu ft
- Heat in it
- 25.3 million BTU
A face cord of short logs
Stack: 8 × 4 ft · Stack depth: 16 in · Wood: Sugar maple (hard maple)
- Cords
- 0.33
- Stack volume
- 42.67 cu ft
- Face cords (one row deep)
- 1.00 face cords
- Solid wood, about
- 28 cu ft
- Heat in it
- 8.3 million BTU
A long woodpile
Stack: 24 × 5 ft · Stack depth: 16 in · Wood: White oak
- Cords
- 1.25
- Stack volume
- 160 cu ft
- Face cords (one row deep)
- 3.75 face cords
- Solid wood, about
- 106 cu ft
- Heat in it
- 33.8 million BTU
A pickup load
Stack: 6.5 × 2 ft · Stack depth: 60 in · Wood: Ash
- Cords
- 0.51
- Stack volume
- 65 cu ft
- Face cords (one row deep)
- 0.41 face cords
- Solid wood, about
- 43 cu ft
- Heat in it
- 12.0 million BTU
What a cord is
NIST's model law defines a cord as 128 cubic feet of wood, tightly stacked: a pile 4 ft high, 8 ft long and 4 ft deep. An eighth of a cord is 16 cubic feet.
A face cord, rick or stove cord is the same face but only one row of pieces deep, so with pieces of 12 to 18 inches it holds 32 to 48 cubic feet. The Maine Forest Service counts a face cord of sixteen-inch pieces as 0.33 of a cord. NIST's model law asks sellers to sell by the cord and its fractions, so ask for the volume when buying.
How much wood is in a cord
A stacked cord is part air: it holds about 80 to 90 cubic feet of solid wood, depending on how straight and tightly packed the pieces are. Burn wood seasoned below 20 percent moisture; wet wood wastes heat boiling off water.
Heat value by species
- Hickory (shagbark): 29.1 million BTU per cord.
- White oak: 27 million BTU; red oak: 25.3 million BTU.
- Sugar maple: 25 million BTU; ash: 23.6 million BTU.
- Silver maple and birch: about 20.8 million BTU.
- Southern pine: 19 million BTU; cottonwood: 16.1 million BTU; white pine: 15.9 million BTU.
Common questions
How much is a cord of firewood?
128 cubic feet of tightly stacked wood, 4 ft high, 8 ft long and 4 ft deep.
How big is a face cord?
The same face as a cord, 4 ft by 8 ft, but one row of pieces deep: about 32 to 48 cubic feet depending on the piece length.
How much is half a cord of firewood?
Half of 128 cubic feet: a stack of the same height and length but half as deep, or the same depth and half as long.
Which firewood gives the most heat?
Dense hardwoods: hickory at about 29.1 million BTU a cord and oak at 27 million BTU. Softwoods such as white pine give about half, 15.9 million BTU.